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2016-05-31 10:16 AM


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Subject: New Triathlete - Times
I am relatively new to the sport - I started training ~ 7 months ago and I am curious if I am progressing adequately. Prior to the 7 months I was not in very good shape, didn't exercise, eat well, drank too much, etc. How long does it take to plateau? Have I already hit my plateau? Based on my times what discipline do I need to focus on? BTW, I am a 36 yr old male. Thank you all in advance for any insight you can lend.

Tri #1 Sprint - 1:04
swim - 08:13.6 (had a panic attack in pool but was able to finish)
T1 - 01:20.9
bike - 0:30:07.2 (19.9 mph ) (wrecked my bike)
T2 - 00:58.6
run 0:23:20.9


Tri #2 Oly - 3:06, both the run and bike were insanely hilly
Swim - 36:14.20
Bike - 1:36:27.86
Run - 51:48.13


Tri #3 Oly - 2:36, pretty simple course with 1 big hill and some rollers on the bike, run was all flat.
Swim – 31:56
T1 – 1:14
Bike – 1:17:09
T2 - :51
Run – 45:15




2016-05-31 12:55 PM
in reply to: Roundegg812

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Birmingham, Alabama
Subject: RE: New Triathlete - Times
I'm not sure plateau is really what you're looking for. You always want to try to do better don't you?

As far as reaching your peak fitness, it's hard to say. Some people are blessed with better blood pumping physiology than others. Some race conditions could affect the times you have listed. There are lots of variables.

Personally, I like to compare my times for each sport against the field and my age group at that particular race. Over time I hope to develop an average that will help me set goals and better evaluate how well I did at a race or at least give me an idea of just how good or bad I am at triathlon so I can set realistic expectations.

I also keep pretty detailed records of my paces for all the sports and pretty much every workout. This way if I try something new or different I can actually measure if it's helping or not. It also allows me to watch for trends, good or bad.

Hope this helps.
2016-05-31 1:19 PM
in reply to: Roundegg812

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Pfafftown, NC
Subject: RE: New Triathlete - Times
Things I look at...........(for myself)

Overall position in race.
AG Position
Splits from within my AG and how they ranked. If I'm ever fastest in my AG in any split, I'll look at how my time looked in the overall.

Your times mean as much to me as my times mean to you. We have no idea what the course was like or how others in your race did. How many showed up? WHO showed up? Etc...

2016-05-31 1:45 PM
in reply to: Roundegg812


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Subject: RE: New Triathlete - Times
A couple things...you don't mention what the distances were for the sprint. Those tend to vary quite a bit from race to race. You also didn't say when these races happened so I can only assume they were all during this calendar year. Assuming the Oly races were standard distance Oly races (even though on occasion they are really "International" distances), I would say you haven't plateaued. You sliced 30 minutes off your Oly time in what we are assuming to be a short period of time with improvements in all three legs. Whatever you are doing now I'd continue doing that.

Also, FWIW if you want to evaluate on progress I would only focus on your times and the conditions of the day. You'll know how much heat, hills, wind, etc played into a split time. I never look at my place; overall or age group. It is a completely meaningless metric if you are interested in improving your performance. It is heavily dependent what other athletes decided to sign up and race that day.
2016-05-31 1:46 PM
in reply to: Roundegg812

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Tucson, AZ
Subject: RE: New Triathlete - Times
Plateau, I have been doing triathlon for 10 years and I don't think I have hit a plateau. Keep working on it. If interested here is essentially all my races in the last 10 years, you should be able to see steady but constant progression:


http://www.thomasgerlach.com/p/race-results.html

Keep up the good work
2016-05-31 2:41 PM
in reply to: Gatornate


12

Subject: RE: New Triathlete - Times
Thank you for the response.The sprint was a 400m swim, 10 mile bike and a 3.1 mile run. The other 2 were standard Olympic. All 3 have been within the last 2 months. The first Olympic was an EXTREMELY hilly course, the others were pretty flat.


2016-05-31 2:46 PM
in reply to: ThomasGerlach ProTri


12

Subject: RE: New Triathlete - Times
WOW - pretty amazing. I am signed up for the Racine 70.3 and looks like you have ran it - multiple times. I am shooting for 5:30 but not being terribly familiar with the course I don't know if that's doable. Thoughts?
2016-05-31 4:04 PM
in reply to: Roundegg812

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Katy, Texas
Subject: RE: New Triathlete - Times
I go by USAT scores that I think give you the best indicator from race to race since conditions and competition change. Try to keep those increasing.

Here is a description of what they mean from a post on slowtwitch that I think is pretty accurate.

40/50=back of back of pack. Like you're in rehab from morbid obesity, cancer, etc...
60's=back of middle of pack. Most off-the couch beginners are in this range.
70's=front of middle of pack. Seasoned triathletes with little time for training, really old people that have been racing for a while, young people with natural athletic ability.
80-85= Back of Front of Pack. An 80-85 usually correlates to something like top-10% overall finish at local races or top 20-25% at a national-caliber race.
85-90=front of front of pack. Usually correlates to top 10 overall finish at local races, or a top 15% finish at a national caliber race.
90-95=usually translates to consistent wins at local races or top-5 if there are a bunch of 90-95 people in your area--low level elite.
95-100=a 95 almost always wins local races, 100 usually translates to competitive finish among elites--good elite
100-105=really good elite--a 105 would win against lot of elites
105+=would win just about everything. Only a few people get scores this high, and I'm not really sure how it's even possible. I think you have to be a really successful long-course athlete.
2016-05-31 4:52 PM
in reply to: 3mar

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Subject: RE: New Triathlete - Times

Originally posted by 3mar I go by USAT scores that I think give you the best indicator from race to race since conditions and competition change. Try to keep those increasing. Here is a description of what they mean from a post on slowtwitch that I think is pretty accurate. 40/50=back of back of pack. Like you're in rehab from morbid obesity, cancer, etc... 60's=back of middle of pack. Most off-the couch beginners are in this range. 70's=front of middle of pack. Seasoned triathletes with little time for training, really old people that have been racing for a while, young people with natural athletic ability. 80-85= Back of Front of Pack. An 80-85 usually correlates to something like top-10% overall finish at local races or top 20-25% at a national-caliber race. 85-90=front of front of pack. Usually correlates to top 10 overall finish at local races, or a top 15% finish at a national caliber race. 90-95=usually translates to consistent wins at local races or top-5 if there are a bunch of 90-95 people in your area--low level elite. 95-100=a 95 almost always wins local races, 100 usually translates to competitive finish among elites--good elite 100-105=really good elite--a 105 would win against lot of elites 105+=would win just about everything. Only a few people get scores this high, and I'm not really sure how it's even possible. I think you have to be a really successful long-course athlete.

not sure I agree on the 90-95 thing.  I scored somewhere in the 91's and I was 11th earlier this year in my first oly

2016-05-31 5:10 PM
in reply to: dmiller5

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Subject: RE: New Triathlete - Times

Originally posted by dmiller5

Originally posted by 3mar I go by USAT scores that I think give you the best indicator from race to race since conditions and competition change. Try to keep those increasing. Here is a description of what they mean from a post on slowtwitch that I think is pretty accurate. 40/50=back of back of pack. Like you're in rehab from morbid obesity, cancer, etc... 60's=back of middle of pack. Most off-the couch beginners are in this range. 70's=front of middle of pack. Seasoned triathletes with little time for training, really old people that have been racing for a while, young people with natural athletic ability. 80-85= Back of Front of Pack. An 80-85 usually correlates to something like top-10% overall finish at local races or top 20-25% at a national-caliber race. 85-90=front of front of pack. Usually correlates to top 10 overall finish at local races, or a top 15% finish at a national caliber race. 90-95=usually translates to consistent wins at local races or top-5 if there are a bunch of 90-95 people in your area--low level elite. 95-100=a 95 almost always wins local races, 100 usually translates to competitive finish among elites--good elite 100-105=really good elite--a 105 would win against lot of elites 105+=would win just about everything. Only a few people get scores this high, and I'm not really sure how it's even possible. I think you have to be a really successful long-course athlete.

not sure I agree on the 90-95 thing.  I scored somewhere in the 91's and I was 11th earlier this year in my first oly

I think it is highly subjective too.  I scored a 88.711 at USAT Nationals in 2014 and was MOP in my AG.  I'm usually a front runner in my local races, but national level is a whole different ballgame.

2016-05-31 5:16 PM
in reply to: dmiller5

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Katy, Texas
Subject: RE: New Triathlete - Times
Depends on who shows up. I got an 85 on a sprint and was 9 out of 300ish. That's the beauty of it. You really can't depend on your place, or even where you finish in the field based on percent because you could happen to be at a race where 10 or 15 people put out FOFOP efforts, which is what it sounds like you did. You did quite a bit better on your race than I did on mine based on the score. We wouldn't have been able to tell that otherwise. That's why i like it.


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